First Annual MP3 Summit Hits San Diego This Week

First Annual MP3 Summit Hits San Diego This Week

Last week, <A HREF="http://www.xingtech.com">Xing Technology Corporation</A> announced its sponsorship of the <A HREF="http://www.mp3.com/conference/">First Annual MP3 Summit</A>. In a statement, the company urged music-industry executives to discuss copyright issues, technical standards, and music distribution, and to participate in developing the future of MP3.

BMG Leading Record Labels into Online Sales

BMG Leading Record Labels into Online Sales

In a move that is likely to push record labels into the uncharted territory of direct sales, <A HREF="http://www.bmg.com">BMG</A&gt; has announced its intention to add in-house sales to its network of music sites. "BMG will be moving in the fall to its own fulfillment capability because of the demands of consumers," said senior vice president Scott Dinsdale at the Business Online 98 conference in San Francisco last week.

Audio for DVD Seminar

Audio for DVD Seminar

It's no secret that <A HREF="http://www.dolby.com">Dolby Laboratories</A> doesn't aim its audio compression technologies at the high-end consumer audio market. After all, Dolby excels at finding ways to get maximum performance out of limited-bandwidth environments such as the audio cassette, or the space alloted for 5.1-channel soundtracks on DVDs.

Harman Opens New Engineering Facility

Harman Opens New Engineering Facility

Following a recent announcement of "diminished expectations" for the near future (see <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/10194/">previous story</A>) and a shakeup of upper management---in which Consumer Group marketing honcho Tom Jacoby was put out to pasture and audio guru Floyd Toole was promoted to senior vice president of acoustic and transducer engineering---<A HREF="http://www.harman.com">Harman International Industries</A> has put the finishing touches on a new 10,000-square-foot audio laboratory. At company headquarters in Northridge, CA, north of Los Angeles, the laboratory includes a 10,000-cubic-foot anechoic chamber for testing and measuring loudspeakers, and a multichannel room with computer-controlled, hydraulically operated platforms for positioning front left, center, and right speakers (a reviewer's dream!).

Recording of June 1998: Elgar: Enigma Variations

Recording of June 1998: Elgar: Enigma Variations

<B>EDWARD ELGAR: <I>Enigma Variations</I>, <I>In the South</I>, <I>Coronation March</I></B><BR> George Hurst, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra<BR> Naxos 8.553564 (CD). 1997. Paul Myers, prod.; Dave Harries, eng. DDD. TT: 58:47<BR> Performance <B>****</B><BR> Sonics ****</B>

Trying to Bring Order to a Chaotic Optical-Disc World

Trying to Bring Order to a Chaotic Optical-Disc World

With the plethora of CD and DVD formats out there, it can be confusing figuring out what will work with what. Standards can help define specifications for a particular format, but often do little to guarantee compatibility between them.

Amazon.com Beefs Up CD Sales; Stock Surges

Amazon.com Beefs Up CD Sales; Stock Surges

The "world's largest bookstore" may be on its way to becoming one of the biggest music stores, too. Two weeks ago, <A HREF="http://www.amazon.com">Amazon.com</A&gt; began a big push into CD retailing, more than doubling the number of its musical offerings to over 100,000 titles. (Competitor <A HREF="http://www.cdnow.com">CDnow</A&gt; offers over 500,000 titles.) Visitors to the Amazon website can now click on a tab that will take them to a new music site, where they can listen to audio previews and read reviews, reprints of articles on bands and musicians, and music-industry news.

Carlton to Acquire Nimbus for $264 Million

Carlton to Acquire Nimbus for $264 Million

On June 17, <A HREF="http://www.carltonplc.co.uk/">Carlton Communications</A>, owner of Technicolor, announced that it has entered into a merger agreement to acquire <A HREF="http://www.nimbuscd.com/">Nimbus CD International</A>, one of the world's largest independent manufacturers of optical discs, including CD-Audio, DVD, DVD-ROM, and CD-ROM.

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